Mackinnons #02 For All the Right Reasons Read Online Free PDF Page A

burning like fire from that okra, and the thought of washing them in the cool waters of the creek was just too tempting. She could always say she had looked for pa and simply couldn’t find him.
    She changed direction and headed for the dark fringe of trees that lined the creek. A minute later, she broke into a run, feeling as happy and carefree as any girl her age could feel. She had planned to run until she reached the cool strip of shade that followed the creek, but she had to stop when she got a stitch in her side. By that time she had decided she didn’t want to run anyway. It was too hot, and she was breathing harder than a plow horse. Stopping to walk, she caught her breath, walking on, counting the number of steps to the creek. She had reached four hundred and thirty when she stepped into the shade. A blue jay scolded her noisily and she laughed, mocking his scolding chatter. Overhead a gust of wind rattled through the dark glossy leaves and the branches drooped gently, swaying the woodbine that trailed like long May-day streamers to the ground. As she walked, she pushed the trailing vines back to let herself pass, feeling like she had entered her own private hideaway as they closed behind her, looking as thick and matted as they had before she entered. In the shade, the ground was cool and covered with vines and rotting logs grown over with lichen, and near the tree trunks last year’s leaves still lay moldering on the ground.
    She reached the water and paused, thinking how quiet and still everything was. Overhead the sun was still shining through the arch of trees and all about her the sky was a clear, cloudless blue. Everywhere the world was still and cool and perfect as a picture. Even the surface of the water seemed subdued as it reflected the blue of the sky and the white brilliance of the sun in shimmering sparkles of light. The stillness was broken when a fish flipped out of the water, his silver sides flashing for a moment before he fell back and disappeared out of sight.
    She stood for a moment looking at the water, then moved to its edge and began scrubbing her stinging arms with wet sand. As she rinsed them she spied a log that had fallen across the creek. The water in the middle of the creek was deeper and cooler and she decided to walk out there and bathe her feet that were blistering hot. She took off her shoes, then her stockings, leaving them on the bank. As she made her way across the log, she decided to dramatize the moment, closing her eyes and imagining herself to be the greatest ballerina in all of Russia. Balancing herself on one leg, she raised the other in a perfect point. She stayed in flawless balance for several seconds, enjoying the moment to the fullest. Then something happened that should never happen to any ballerina, and certainly not the greatest in all of Russia. She lost her balance. In a twinkling of a moment she felt herself falling through the air, having no time to prepare herself for the landing that was to follow.
    She hit the water with a loud splash, a wall of silvery water rising high into the air all about her. The water closed over her face and she fought her way to the surface, realizing by the time she reached it, just how lovely the cool water felt.
    Once she was in, she decided to stay in. She made her way to shallow water, where she could plant her feet firmly on the sand, and began removing her clothes. Each article she removed got a fair washing before she stood on her toes to drape it from the low-hanging branches that stretched out over the water. Normally, when the sisters were allowed to swim, they kept their undergarments on, but today, Karin decided not to. Katherine wouldn’t take all of her clothes off, a voice said. Who cares? Katherine is only fifteen. Karin, who at sixteen was a year older than her sister, was feeling just a little daring. It was summertime, she was young and the world seemed to hold still just for her. She removed all her clothes,